Page 70 of Student Seduction

My gaze dropped and she moved in for the kill.

“Obviously we have to let you go,” she said, disgust heavy in her tone. “We can’t be affiliated with this if it does become public. It would degrade the internship program and the museum itself.” Adding salt to my gaping wound, she gave me a smug smile. “I’ve reached out to a few people in admissions and student aid at NCAAD. I don’t think you’ll be receiving any scholarships from them either.”

The North Carolina Academy of Art and Design was my last hope for any kind of tuition assistance if I didn’t get this scholarship.

“Do you really think you’re worth him losing everything he’s worked for?”

No. I knew I wasn’t.

For some reason,hethought I was worth it.

I shook my head, still staring at the pointy tips of her designer shoes.

I stood, recognizing that as my cue to leave. When I reached the door, she called my name.

I stopped, wiped the rogue tears escaping my eyes without turning around.

“If you care about him at all, end it. End it before it’s too late and you destroy his life.”

By the time I made it to the bus stop, my phone was chiming with incoming text messages.

I wiped my still wet eyes and read the words my mother had sent.

The house sold. We have to be out in twenty-one days. Kat and I are going to be mostly on the road, but Mrs. Echols said you are welcome to stay with her and Drew as long as you need. I won’t tell you what to do. You’re an adult now. But I think you should consider your father’s offer.

Damn this day.

I stifled the urge to go on another crying jag and pulled up Aiden’s number on my phone. It rang a few times, then his voicemail picked up.

He had hockey practice tonight. Right.

The bus ride from Charlotte was a blur of crying and trying not to cry.

I decided to get off in Riverside and Uber to Aiden’s house. We needed to talk.

I needed to apologize, not only for getting so upset with him for calling my dad but for the risks we’d taken, risks he would take the fall for.

When I arrived, the house and the Airstream were both locked up tight. There were no signs that anyone was home so I headed to the studio he’d built for me. I had a key to it and desperately needed to get out some of what I was bottling inside.

Once inside, I turned on my music, blasting the best of Halsey, because I was angry and hurt and scared. Everything was fucked up, but I was resilient and hopeful. Emotions her music combined effortlessly. Pretty sure she was my spirit animal.

Rolling out the tarp I’d ordered to cover the back wall, I decided it was my medium today. Filling my aluminum pan with black paint, I began planning out the piece in my head.

“Hello?” A male voice called out.

I turned and saw Axel standing in the doorway to the shed. I reached for my phone and lowered the volume.

He lifted his chin toward the tarp. “Didn’t mean to interrupt. Could we talk for a minute?”

I crossed the space between us. “Sure. Is Aiden okay?”

Axel frowned down at me. “I don’t know, Emersyn. Honestly, I’m starting to think my little brother had lost his damn mind. So I don’t know if he’s okay or not.”

My insides attempted to tie themselves into knots. “Meaning you think he’s crazy for getting involved with me.”

Axel was a straightforward kind of guy. He wasn’t going to sugarcoat anything so neither was I.

“I think he cares a lot about you and that’s fine. If what you have is so wonderful, it can wait six or seven more months until you graduate and dating you is legal.”